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SRRC Race Reports

Stupid Little 10 Miler : Berryvile, VA—April 1, 2006
by Carol Johnson, Rich Petra, Alison Gittelman

View from the start . . .

The Stupid Little 10 Miler may have been little, but it sure wasn't stupid. All in all this was a fantastic little race on a beautiful morning with a great bunch of people. About 75 runners took part, and the atmosphere was relaxed, happy, and low key. It seemed that there were quite a few “been there done that” kind of runners who truly enjoy a good run on a beautiful, challenging course and do not need the fanfare of a big race, t-shirts, music, working bathrooms(!) to motivate them. It was surprising how fast some of the racers were who did not look like they could run very fast. It must be something about the mental toughness of experienced racers. Either that or they start to like feeling the pain rather than trying to avoid it.

One of the hills . . .

The temperature was in the low 60s; there was hardly any wind, although it was a little humid. The sun was mostly behind the clouds, and most of the course was tree-shaded, so there was no hot burning sun for the duration of the race. The course was a nice out and back on a gravel road, the kind of loose gravel that usually surrounds a small restaurant in the country with a big sign out front that says, "EATS." The gravel was kind of hard on the feet. By mile 8, Rich felt like he had some of the gravel in his shoes. It was an illusion, but that is what it felt like. It was a challenging course, though, because of the hills. Rich did not like the hills. Not even a little bit. Carol had not run many hills since she left CT, so the flat roads of SR had not prepared her for these rolling hills. The peace and quiet and the view of the river helped a lot! Her quads were still screaming three days later!

Carol's Summary:

Although the race was not stupid, there WERE a few stupid things on MY part.

Arrogantly thinking that I could beat the dog that lined up at the start line ahead of me. Oh yeah! He started fast with all of those other speed demons, but I was sure he would not have the endurance and that I would catch him before the end of the race, maybe even pass him while he walked a water station or one of the hills. As I saw him make the turn around and watched him race into the last five miles I knew I was no match for him. As it turns out, I was no match for most of the runners there. WHAT I LEARNED: Do not try to race dogs, and these little known races tend to attract REAL runners!
Alison and I “stupidly” realized too late that just because bathrooms are open does not mean they are meant to be used. I will leave this statement at that.
I “stupidly” refused the prayers of a “well wisher” in the Starbucks parking lot. At about mile 7, going uphill, I wished I had accepted her prayers! It couldn't have hurt!

Rich's Summary:

My previous long events many years ago were 10Ks. This was my first 10 miler, so I had two simple goals:

Finish
Not get hurt

I accomplished both goals. Seriously, probably not an easy course for a beginning 10 miler, but by mile 7 I knew I would finish. I also knew that I was cruising rather than racing. I could have run much, much faster, but I did not want to miss any of the lovely scenery, so I took a nice leisurely sight-seeing pace. I'm sort of anxious to try a flat 10 miler on smooth roads just to see how it compares.

This might not be an ideal race for a first-timer, who would probably do better with more people (less lonely on the road), and a bit more fanfare to commemorate your first race, e.g., t-shirt.

Alison's Summary:

In the car on the way to the race, Phil told me he was surprised I wasn't running the 5K, because I had a pretty good shot at a trophy in that race. Only a couple of years ago I would have definitely picked the shorter race, but these days I'm enjoying the longer runs more and the short sprints less. Even after the awards had been posted and I saw that I would probably have picked up a lovely trophy in the 5K, I actually felt glad that I'd run the 10 miles. Had I not run the 10, I would have missed some spectacular scenery, beautiful mountains (those were NOT hills!), and wonderful fellow racers. For the first four miles I ran with a couple of women who were chatting away and clearly enjoying the run. They introduced themselves, and asked me where I lived. One of the women told me that her house was “just over that hill.” They were running in her back yard! No wonder they looked so comfortable.

The goat watches runners pass by.

Even though I had a good race, it was tough. I like hills, but I don't like gravel, or heat, or humidity. I had to drink at every water stop and pour water over myself to stop my head from feeling like it was about to blow up. At the end of the race I looked like I'd taken a dip in the Shenandoah. I felt terrible all day, went to bed at 8:00 and slept for 10 hours. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the low-key atmosphere and unique race features, such as the goat at mile 1 who bleated right on cue as we ran by, the pencils, and race-director Karsten Brown, who is such a hoot. I will definitely be back, although I think next time I'll run the 5K. (Those trophies are just too tempting!)

Congrats to Rich for now holding the record for least time in the club before running his first race with us! Congrats to Alison and Phil for placing in their age groups! The trophies for this race are one of a kind. For all of you fast runners out there, your trophy case is not complete without one of these!

April 2006

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